A valley-floor district of schools at the gates of Gokokuji: every way out of the station is uphill, and an imperial cemetery is next door
Gokokuji Station sits right under Otowa-dori, a street that runs along the bottom of a valley, with plateau slopes rising on both sides. So no matter which direction you walk out of the station, it's uphill. The station takes its name from Gokokuji Temple, which you reach by heading north from the station; right next to the station is the publisher Kodansha, which opened an entrance connecting directly to the station underground when it rebuilt its building. Around the station are also Ochanomizu University, Japan Women's University, and Dokkyo Junior and Senior High School, making this a district of schools.
Gokokuji is a prayer temple built in 1681 by Tokugawa Tsunayoshi for his mother Keishoin, and its main hall, built in 1697, is an Important Cultural Property. Also buried on the temple grounds are Meiji-era politicians such as Okuma Shigenobu and Yamagata Aritomo. Toshimagaoka Cemetery, next to the temple, is reserved for the imperial family and closed to the public; most of its grounds are mixed woodland, keeping the look of the "Otowa Forest". For commuting you have two subway lines to choose from: the Yurakucho Line at Gokokuji Station, or the Marunouchi Line at Shin-Otsuka Station in Otsuka 4-chome to the northeast. For public transit it ranks 83rd out of 219 neighborhoods in Tokyo, in the upper-middle range.
There's no proper shopping street in front of the station; a few bakeries are scattered along Otowa-dori, the supermarkets are all small, and there are no chain drugstores. For daily shopping it ranks 162nd out of 219 neighborhoods in Tokyo, in the lower range. Judging from our street photos, the sidewalks rank 161st, also in the lower range. On the other side, Shin-Otsuka Station doesn't see many people, with about 26,000 entries and exits a day, making it the least-used station on the Marunouchi Line (excluding the Honancho branch).
Gokokuji's grounds originally covered 50,000 tsubo, but it lost the shogunate's backing after the Meiji Restoration. In 1873, when Emperor Meiji's first son died in infancy, 25,000 tsubo of the grounds were designated as an imperial family cemetery. Another 5,000 tsubo became an army cemetery, leaving the temple with only about 20,000 tsubo. From the Taisho era into the early Showa era, the businessman and tea master Takahashi Yoshio (pen name Soan) reorganized the grounds. He moved the Gekko-den hall from Onjo-ji (Mii-dera) in Shiga to the west side of the main hall, and the temple has often hosted large tea gatherings since. Shin-Otsuka Station on the Marunouchi Line opened in 1954; Gokokuji Station on the Yurakucho Line opened in 1974, and it's the westernmost station in Bunkyo Ward.
Compared with the 219 Tokyo neighborhoods in this guide (scores 0–10)
Hospitals with inpatient beds (2020 data), public elementary and junior high schools whose catchment covers this area, high schools and universities within 1 km, stations, parks of 1 ha or more, and large shopping malls and department stores. Many Tokyo junior high students attend private schools, so junior high catchments are only a guide.
113 blocks · Curated boundary · Data version 2026-10-12
Compared against the Tokyo neighborhoods in this guide; metrics without enough data are not ranked. Shopping counts convenience stores plus the nearer of a supermarket or a traditional market (public and private retail markets); night markets, vendor zones and shopping-street shops are not counted. Transit is rail-first with a lower weight for buses.
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